| The People Against O'Hara | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | John Sturges |
| Screenplay by | John Monks Jr. |
| Based on | the novel The People Against O'Hara byEleazar Lipsky |
| Produced by | William H. Wright |
| Starring |
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| Cinematography | John Alton |
| Edited by | Gene Ruggiero |
| Music by | Carmen Dragon |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $1.7 million[1] |
The People Against O'Hara is a 1951 American crime film noir directed by John Sturges and based on Eleazar Lipsky's novel. The film features Spencer Tracy, Pat O'Brien, and James Arness.[3]
James Curtayne (Tracy) is a once highly successful criminal lawyer, driven to a long layoff and less demanding civil law by a losing battle with the bottle. Johnny O'Hara (Arness), a boy from the old neighborhood, is accused of a murder. Unable to pay Curtayne, his parents still beg him to take the case. He accepts - knowing it will be a tough go, both personally and professionally.
Johnny's boss was shot and robbed during the night on the stairs of his home by two people in older coupe. It's seen, from a distance, by a man coming out of a saloon. When the cops come to question him, Johnny flees, claiming he believed they were thugs seeking to kill him. During questioning, Detective Ricks (O'Brien) and District Attorney Barra (Hodiak), reveal Johnny's gun appears to be the murder weapon and the getaway car his. A young punk, Pete Korvac (Campbell), is picked up. He claims he was Johnny's accomplice, and fingers Johnny as the trigger man.
Johnny insists he was working all night, but the night watchman refutes it. Instead, he was with his lover, Katrina (Yvette Duguay), the young wife of a mobster who controls the waterfront, "Knuckles" Lanzetti (Ciannelli). Knowing the consequences to both of them of revealing the truth he lies to both the D.A. and his own attorney.
Curtayne, a widower, is cared for by his doting but over-protective daughter Ginny (Lynn). She has put her own future with boyfriend Jeff (Richard Anderson) on hold for two years keeping her father on the wagon. Professing confidence he can handle the strain, Curtayne must do his own leg work. He visits the Korvac family, who stonewall him, loudly proclaiming they have no use for the slippery Pete. Curtayne visits Knuckles, suspicious of his involvement but willing to horse-trade information upon accepting Knuckles' denials...yet unwilling to accept his offer to pull strings on his behalf.
At trial Johnny's alibi about being at work all night falls completely apart. Pete's chatty double-talk is convincing and Curtayne proves unable to rattle him. Curtayne confides in Ricks, his friend, that his mind is failing him, the toll of age, drink, and a competent younger adversary. Desperate, he turns a sip of a "short beer" into straight rye. Approached in the bar by the eyewitness, a Norwegian seaman, Sven Norson (Flippen), with an offer to change his story for a price, Curtayne caves to his demons and writes out a $500 personal check.
D.A. Barra discovers the bribe. He wins the case, convicting Johnny of murder, then must decide what to do about Curtayne's behavior, possibly seeking to have him disbarred. Curtayne, however, is tipped off by Ricks about the boy's relationship with gangster Knuckles' wife, a relationship that began on the docks before World War II, before Johnny shipped out for the duration and she married Knuckles. Grief-stricken when confronted by Curtayne, she is willing to come forward and accept the consequences in hopes of saving her love.
Curtayne tries to set up Knuckles, certain that he is the one behind the murder. He wears a wire for the police, looking for a confession. Instead, it turns out one of Pete Korvac's brothers is the man who did the fatal shooting, and Curtayne ends up at gunpoint. By the time Ricks, Barra and others tailing him can get there to make an arrest, Curtayne ends up fatally shot.
According to MGM records the film earned $1,107,000 in the US and Canada and $588,000 elsewhere, resulting in a $22,000 profit.[1]
Bosley CrowtherofThe New York Times called the film "a curiously old-fashioned courtroom drama" that "moved ploddingly".[4]AVariety reviewer wrote, "A basically good idea for a film melodrama [from a novel by Eleazar Lipsky] is cluttered up with too many unnecessary side twists and turns, and the presentation is uncomfortably overlong."[5]
The People Against O'Hara was presented on Lux Radio Theatre March 9, 1953. The one-hour adaptation starred Walter Pidgeon.[6]
